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JUNIPER NETWORKS makes high-speed routers and Internet traffic-management software. "Has a wonderful rhythm with a combination of hard and soft sounds. Strong, approachable."
SYCAMORE NETWORKS makes optical networking gear and Internet traffic-management software. "Though it grows in both Europe and the U.S., it is not very familiar to consumers."
MAPLE OPTICAL SYSTEMS makes optical networking gear. Its name "offers the least power or energy. One thinks of maple syrup: slow moving."
OAK TECHNOLOGY makes chips and software for office equipment; printers; and scanning devices. "A simple, everyday tree; universal symbol of strength; less provocative than a Cypress or Sycamore."
PALM makes handheld computers and communications devices. Though Palm is named after a hand rather than a tree, Placek still likes the arboreal association: "A dramatic tree, resilient, capable of withstanding extreme temperatures, wind, lack of water--all good qualities for an emerging company."
Polar Warming's Good News?
The English merchant Robert Thorne first proposed the idea in 1527: sail from Western Europe across the top of the continent to the Far East. This northern passage would be far quicker than the one then used, around the southern tip of Africa. But few sailors dared risk the Arctic Ocean's freezing temperatures, ice-clogged seas and blinding fog. Now, though, Thorne's idea is being taken more seriously, owing to global warming. The sea ice along the northern coast of Siberia is retreating, and last year a team of international scientists reported that ice-free routes have emerged during summer months. Within 20 years, the passage is expected to be passable without an icebreaker escort. This northern route would cut the distance from Hamburg to Yokohama to 6,920 nautical miles, as compared with 11,430 through the Suez Canal. That could lead to more efficient shipping of all sorts of cargo between Europe and Asia--especially oil and other mineral wealth from Siberia.
Current route: 11,430 nautical mi. Arctic route: 6,920 nautical mi.
Source: U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
Ban the Martini?
The French may produce some of the world's best wine, and they may drink more per capita than almost anyone else, but advertising any image of alcohol is heavily restricted. And the French ad police don't care if you're hawking something as sobering as customer-relationship-management software. The U.S. software firm Blue Martini, based in San Mateo, Calif., was hoping to run print ads in France featuring its signature azure cocktail and a tag line that read, "This martini won't go to your head." But, after reviewing the tough 1991 ad law, the company's lawyers put their campaign back in the bottle.
--By Daren Fonda and Victoria Rainert/New York
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